Yes, It Is a Weird Al Weekend

I’m coming out of the closet, I’m a “Weird Al” Yankovic fan. I don’t listen to him much these days, but I do keep up with some of his latest hits like my post from yesterday.

So here are some of his more enjoyable hits that some may not be aware of…

[Warning: The following videos are without profane lyrics or any form of nudity. You may finally realize that you can enjoy “contemporary” or “pop” music without all the vileness that emanates from the black hole that is MTV.]

In 2006 AD the music video “White & Nerdy” re-introduced “Weird Al” back into the mainstream of American culture. This video was his first Top 40 single since 1992’s “Smells Like Nirvana”. It also eclipsed the greatest single he ever had, “Eat It”.

In between those to seminal hits he has been very active releasing albums every other year or so, but this new hit of his re-established himself as an icon of parody videos and clean fun.

“White & Nerdy” is the second single from “Weird Al’s” album Straight Outta Lynwood. It parodies the song “Ridin'” by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone. (OK, I’ll admit it, I have no idea who Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone are, but that’s what it said in Wikipedia)

This song makes fun of nerds everywhere from Houston, Texas to Springfield, Illinois. It includes constant references to stereotypically “nerdy” things, such as collecting comic books, playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), and editing Wikipedia, as well as stereotypically “white” things, like watching Happy Days and playing ping pong.

Chamillionaire himself put “White & Nerdy” on his official MySpace page, and commented that he enjoys the parody.In an interview, he also stated he was pleasantly surprised by “Weird Al”‘s rapping ability, saying: “He’s actually rapping pretty good on it, it’s crazy … I didn’t know he could rap like that.”

Enjoy the cameo’s, especially from Donny Osmond!

Yes, there are more funny and highly entertaining video’s from Weird Al. I compiled a short list of his most creative hits.

“Smells Like Nirvana” is a parody of Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. It helped to reenergize (again) Yankovic’s career, and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain considered the parody a sign that they had “made it” as a band. The video mocks the “Smells like Teen Spirit” video, including using the same sets and extras.

And now “Smells Like Nirvana”:

Weird Al‘s concerts are clean and very entertaining.

Yankovic often describes his live concert performances as “a rock and comedy multimedia extravaganza” with an audience that “ranges from toddlers to geriatrics.”

Apart from Yankovic and his band performing his classic and contemporary hits, staples of Yankovic’s live performances include a medley of parodies, many costume changes between songs, and a video screen on which various clips are played during the costume changes.

Here is one of his cult hits that wasn’t accompanied by a music video. It is a live performance of “Yoda”!

“Yoda” is a parody of the song “Lola” by The Kinks. It is about Luke Skywalker’s relationship with Yoda and is very much based on the events of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. It is featured on Weird Al’s third album, Dare to Be Stupid.

Yankovic often describes his live concert performances as “a rock and comedy multimedia extravaganza”[61] with an audience that “ranges from toddlers to geriatrics.”[32] Apart from Yankovic and his band performing his classic and contemporary hits, staples of Yankovic’s live performances include a medley of parodies, many costume changes between songs, and a video screen on which various clips are played during the costume changes.[61] A concert from Yankovic’s 1999 tour for the Running with Scissors album (Touring with Scissors) was released on VHS in 1999 and on DVD in 2000.[4] Titled “Weird Al” Yankovic Live!, the concert was recorded at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California, on October 2, 1999.[62] For legal reasons, video clips (apart from those for Yankovic’s own music videos) could not be shown for the home release, and unreleased parodies were removed from the parody medley for the performance.[63]

2003 saw Yankovic on tour overseas for the first time. Before 2003, Yankovic and his band had toured only the United States and parts of Canada.[6] Following the success of Poodle Hat in Australia, Yankovic performed eleven shows in Australia’s major capital cities and regional areas in October of that year.[64] Yankovic returned to Australia and toured New Zealand for the first time in 2007 to support the Straight Outta Lynwood album.

On September 8, 2007, Yankovic performed his 1,000th live show at Idaho Falls, Idaho.[6] Yankovic is scheduled to tour in the summer of 2010. The initial plan was to tour after his 13th album will be released, but in a podcast in May 2010, Yankovic revealed that the album would not be released before or during the tour, but sometime after.

Yankovic has confirmed his first ever European show, which will take place at the All Tomorrow’s Parties music festival in Minehead, England in December 2010. Yankovic was picked to perform by the Canadian band Godspeed You Black Emperor who are curating the festival’s lineup.

Hey, I resemble that remark… I can probably “ace any trivia quiz you bring on” although I’m not “fluent in Javascript as well as Klingon”.

Two other Weird Al videos not to be overlooked are “The Saga Begins,” which retells the events of “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” to the tune of Don McLean’s “American Pie,” and “My Baby’s In Love With Eddie Vedder” (lead singer of Pearl Jam).

I love the video for “The Saga Begins,” about Star Wars, which is to the tune of “Bye Bye Miss American Pie.” It is amazing how he works in the real lyrics to the songs. It’s a long video but the more times you watch it the funnier it is.

He has a channel on YouTube and has (or used to have) a video for “White & Nerdy) that is just him singing and Donny Osmund dancing. Donny Osmund is so hilarious, my kids used to watch it all the time and crack up.

You should also check out the video to “Bob,” which is exactly like a Bob Dylan video. All the words to the song are palindromes.